Blood and Ashes
by Nephthys Moon
Summary: The Dragon Throne has existed for thousands of years and those that sit upon it are power-hungry villains. Zuko wants to change that, but after he chooses to become traitor to it, he knows he cannot expect to hold it for long in the state that it is in.
1. Ch 1 The Crossroads of His Destiny

"I thought you had changed!" she shouted, feeling her heart in her throat as she stared across the greenly glowing cavern. Aang was forgotten, as was Azula. All that existed was the boy in front of her, the one she had just minutes before offered to heal, physically and emotionally.

"I have changed," he growled. She bit back the tears and prepared another strike, ignoring everything but taking out her anger and betrayal on Zuko. She reared back to strike again, but she was suddenly caught between him and his sister, slamming into an outcropping of crystal and too stunned to stand. She struggled for the strength to rise, knowing that if she did not get up, she would die where she lay. If she could just get up, she could continue to fight. Even as she saw the Dai Li agents surround her, she still pulled herself to her feet, her eyes glittering with hatred and betrayal at Zuko. She would not die on her back, a coward who had given up.

She pulled water from the canal nearest her and pushed herself into an octopus form, prepared to defend and strike back until she died. She struck several Dai Li agents with the tentacles before she, and everyone else in the cave were frozen, watching in awe as Aang rose into the air, hovering a dozen feet above the ground, his eyes and tattoos aglow, fully in control of the Avatar State at last. Katara smiled proudly as she watched him continue to rise, the entire cavern lit by the shine of his tattoos.

A faint crackle of electricity was the only warning, a flickering light that was nearly indiscernible from the glow emanating from Aang, but she knew, instantly, what it meant. She shouted a warning to Aang and ran towards Azula, determined to stop the evil Fire Nation princess before she could strike Aang when the rocks above her head suddenly came raining down upon her.

The smoke cleared but the glow remained, and in it she could see the stunned figure of Azula, her small hands pinned behind her back by her much-larger uncle. Iroh was straddling what appeared to be the dead body of his nephew and Katara's heart fell from her throat to her stomach as she grasped what had happened and she tried to process it, but before she could, she felt herself being swept away, engulfed by a wave of water that surrounded her. The water was glowing, and she felt the cuts and scrapes of the past hour washed away in a healing rush. She looked for Aang, but she couldn't see him; she wanted to shout, to tell him they couldn't leave Iroh, not after he'd helped them. And Zuko's body couldn't be left for Azula to desecrate, either.

Though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, it seemed like hours that she floated in the water as it swept them away from the battle, and though her wounds had healed almost instantly, it continued to glow with healing energy. Finally, the water ceased its flow and she saw Aang, the Avatar State gone, swaying gently as he reached for his whistle to call Appa to them. Iroh knelt at the ground near his feet, bending over his nephew's chest, which was marred by a gaping wound over his heart.

"Katara, I tried to help him, but I'm not as good at healing as you are," Aang said as he raised the whistle to his lips. She walked slowly, staring at the hole, knowing that the chances of Zuko surviving such an injury were slim. In spite of his betrayal, he had risked his life to save Aang, and she couldn't not try, at least, to save his in return.

"You are a healer?" Iroh asked, his raspy voice sounding far more hoarse than usual, and Katara knew that he was aware of the severity of the situation – knew that Iroh knew there was little she could do for his nephew except make his last moments, if he weren't already dead, more comfortable.

As she knelt across from Iroh and pulled water from the skin on her hip across her hands, infusing it with her healing energies, she felt a tugging at her neck and stared in some surprise as Iroh pulled on the amulet Master Pakku had given her.

"What is this?" he asked, but his eyes had narrowed. "This is from the Spirit World," he breathed a moment later. Katara nodded and reached up to remove the amulet's cap, bending the small amount of water in her hand and passing it over the wound in Zuko's chest. She could see three ribs through the burn on his skin, and below that was his heart. It was still. She focused on his heart, pushing the water into the muscle and willing it to move, willing the water to have the ability to start a stopped heart. She felt the muscle move under her hands, felt the blood flowing through his arteries again as he opened his eyes briefly and looked at her.

A _thud _pulled her attention away from his flickering eyelids and she looked up to see Appa, carrying Sokka and Toph, land nearby. Toph jumped to the ground and her feet stopped.

"We need to get Sparky out of here," she shouted, lifting the ground below him into a makeshift stretcher. Aang assisted her, guiding the slab to the top of Appa's saddle and Sokka lifted the older boy from it, laying him gently down. With Aang's assistance, they all climbed onto the saddle and Aang took the reins.

"Head for Chameleon Bay," Sokka shouted. "Dad will know what to do!" Aang looked back at her for confirmation, and she nodded before turning her attention back to healing the worst of Zuko's injuries as best she could.

"Don't you dare die on me," she muttered to him, ignorant of the looks Iroh and Sokka were giving her as well as the smile on Toph's face. "Don't even think about it."

He smiled slightly in response, and she felt her own lips quirk up to match his.

And then his breath left in a soft _whoosh_, and Katara screamed.

* * *

Hakoda's head snapped up. A woman had screamed somewhere nearby, he knew he'd heard it. From the way his warriors were watching the surrounding area, he knew they'd heard it to. Suddenly, Bato shouted and pointed upwards, and he watched as the Avatar's bison began its descent towards him. His eyes did an inventory of the passengers, making sure his son and daughter were alive and upright, relieved to find Sokka sitting in the front of the beast's saddle, looking shell-shocked but fine – but Katara and the small Earthbender were towards the back of the saddle, the smaller girl crying silently and patting an older man on the shoulder while his daughter leaned over something lying at the bottom of the saddle, something the rest of them were staring at in despair. And all he could think was that this could not be good.

"Is your sister alright?" he shouted up to his son as Sokka attempted to assist the blind girl in getting to the ground. Sokka shook his head and Hakoda grabbed his son by the shoulders and shook him. "What's wrong with your sister?" he demanded, pushing the boy aside to try to climb the beast himself.

"I think she lost him," Sokka said quietly. Four hours ago, he wouldn't have cared if Zuko died. But Iroh had explained, quietly, what Zuko had done in the catacombs. Trying to redirect lighting, he'd said, was a difficult task for even the most accomplished Firebender, but for one whose loyalties were torn, as Zuko's were, it was nearly impossible. And yet he'd tried. Zuko had tried to save Aang.

For a brief moment, Sokka had wondered if it had merely been a way for him to outshine his sister and bring the Avatar back to the Fire Nation himself, but now he realized it didn't matter what the motives. Zuko had risked his life to save Aang's – and it looked like he might have lost it, as well. Sokka looked up from his feet and saw Aang and Toph lowering Zuko on a slab of rock, Katara bending herself to the ground on a slide of ice and instructing them to move him to their father's tent without so much as acknowledging that Hakoda was standing next to her. She lifted the flap from the outside and made room for them to lower Zuko onto the rugs.

"I need furs," she said to no one in particular. "Aang, I need as much water as you can get from the bay. Get all the sand and salt out of it with Earthbending, Toph. I need it to be pure. Sokka, build up Dad's fire. General Iroh, if you could please come with me," she added in a much kinder tone as she entered the tent. The others rushed around to obey her orders, but Sokka recognized the look his father's eyes and knew that the General was more than capable of building up the fire in the tent.

"General Iroh?" Hakoda asked menacingly, and Sokka knew that his explanation would have to be damn good or his father was going to haul Katara out of that tent by her hair and demand answers from her himself.

"It's a really, really long story, Dad," he said. He was exhausted and felt as though he'd aged ten years in the past few hours.

"Well, I'm obviously not going to sleep any time soon," Hakoda put in wryly, "so get to it, son."

Sokka 'got to it' explaining as fully as he could what he knew of the events from the time he'd left his father's camp until he'd arrived back at it. "There's stuff I don't know, Dad," he admitted. "Katara was missing a long time, and so was Zuko – Aang said they were in prison together. He said Zuko turned on them, but that he saved him, too. I don't know what to make of it."

"So you're telling me that my daughter – my little girl – is in my tent right now alone with two Firebenders of the royal family while you're sitting outside explaining things to me and her two idiot friends are getting water so she can heal one of them?"

* * *

"General, his heart is barely beating," she said when they were alone. "The Spirit Water got it started again, but I don't know how long he has. I'm so sorry."

"What can you do?" Iroh asked, holding tears at bay. A story he'd heard years ago was whispering through his brain, but he wasn't sure if it was appropriate or even wise to tell the girl across the slab of earth from him the details.

"Without more Spirit Water, I don't know how much I can do. My healing is a natural ability, but my training is rudimentary, at best," she admitted. "So far I've only ever had to use it for minor injuries. With something like this, I'm not even sure what to do, honestly."

He thought for long moments. It was true, the information he was about to give her was dangerous. If used as a weapon, it was devastating. But if she could use it for healing purposes, then perhaps she could still save Zuko. He closed his eyes briefly and decided. The moon was full, thank Agni, and the girl in front of him would most likely never think to use the ability he was about to teach her as a weapon. She didn't have it in her.

"What about his blood?" he asked finally. It was possible that the technique was something that was learned in the Water Tribes and never spoken of.

"His blood? I don't know anything about blood, General," she said, bewildered. He decided she was either a very good actress or she truly did not know.

"Blood is mostly water, Miss Katara," he said quietly, praying to Agni that she would never use this as a weapon. "A powerful Waterbender, such as yourself, with the power of the full moon behind her should be able to bend the blood in his body to keep it flowing and use her other abilities to heal his wounds."

"Bend his blood?" she asked, horrified. _Thank you, Agni._

"Can you do it?" he asked and she shook her head violently for a moment before stopping and shrugging.

"I don't know," she said at last, "but I can try."

"Thank you."

Iroh watched in fascination as the slip of a girl in front of him pulled water from one of the pots that the Avatar brought to her with one hand and placed the other over Zuko's heart. Her eyes closed in concentration, and the water covered one hand, which passed over the wound in his nephew's chest, hear his heart. Iroh closed his eyes and listened for the familiar sound of Zuko's inner fire, that tiny heartbeat that distinguished a Firebender from a non-bender. He couldn't be sure what the Waterbender was doing, but it was working. The inner fire was growing stronger and so was Zuko's breath. He opened his eyes and saw that the wound that had covered his nephew's chest had closed; though it was still raw and red, his ribs were no longer visible through it. He reached out barely in time to stop Katara from falling into it as she passed out.

* * *

"So you killed Zuko?" Ty Lee asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"Of course I did," Azula answered without a trace of remorse. "He was a traitor. He would never have been welcomed back. He saved the Fire Nation from housing a royal prisoner, if Father didn't kill him the minute we stepped on shore, anyway. Besides, he tried to stop my lightning. I wasn't aiming for him," she added, as though this made everything alright.

"Good riddance," Mai said softly, but Ty Lee knew that she was lying. Mai had always liked Zuko, even when they were all children. And she knew that Mai harbored no illusions about what Azula was. But when she had come to both of them, scant months before, and asked them to join her, she'd drawn a line in the sand. If you were on Azula's side, then you could live. If you weren't, she'd make sure that you didn't. It didn't matter that Azula's side was the side of evil; Ty Lee was well aware of the menacing, heartless aura that came off of her 'friend'. But it wasn't just her own life she'd wanted to spare in joining Azula; it was that of her family, her sisters, and her friends at the circus. Azula wouldn't have killed her; no it was much easier to get rid of those she cared about until Ty Lee had no choice but to cross that line. Ty Lee sometimes wondered about Mai, honestly, but she could see the good deep inside the girl's gloomy exterior and she wanted to live to see it come to the surface, so she kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, and here I thought you harbored a soft spot for my big brother, Mai," Azula taunted, malice flashing in her eyes.

"There is no place in this world for traitors, Azula," Mai said, and even Azula seemed a bit taken aback by the ice in the girl's tone.

"Good, because I'd hate to think you were mourning his loss. It is my gain, and therefore yours as well," Azula continued. "I will need you more than ever, Mai – and you, too, Ty Lee. But for now, leave me. I want to savor my victory in peace. The Earth Kingdom has fallen." She could not know that she was echoing the words of the deposed Earth King mere hours later. Ty Lee bounded from the room, Mai following her at a more sedate pace, and neither noticed that instead of a triumphant expression, Azula's face was definitely brooding, and the look belonged more on her dead brother than it did her.

For her own part, Azula was pondering how this could happen to her, of all people. Yes, she had brought about the fall of Ba Sing Se, and for that she was sure her father would be extremely proud. And yes, she had killed her brother, removing one of the final obstacles to her ascension as Firelord upon her father's death, sooner rather than later, she decided, would be better. But she had neglected to kill the Avatar as well. And she knew, from experience, that her father would view that failure far more important than her accomplishments. It was inconceivable that it had happened in the first place. _Zuko _made mistakes like that. _Zuko _was the one who couldn't capture the Avatar. _Zuko_'s honor was the one in question. Never hers; never _Azula_'s. _Azula _didn't make mistakes. She didn't allow herself to make mistakes. Mistakes were for failures, for traitors and pathetic excuses for Firebenders like _Zuko_, but never for _Azula_.

_But Zuko is gone now, and it's all your fault,_ a snide voice whispered inside her head. _Now there is no one to take the blame, no one to make mistakes. It's up to you_. She shook her head, trying to dispel the voice. She was not a failure! She was not _Zuko_!

_No, you're not,_ another voice whispered. It was soft, gentle, and almost – loving? Azula recognized it at once, though she refused to acknowledge it. _**Zuko **would never have done what you did today. No matter what you did to him, **Zuko **would never have killed you._

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT ANYWAY, MOTHER! You loved him more, even though I was better. You loved him more." Her final words were whispered softly.

_That's not true,_ her mother's voice whispered through her mind. Azula shook her head violently and the voice quieted.

"You lie," she muttered. "You always lied."

There was no rebuttal, and Azula started thinking other thoughts. With Ba Sing Se under the control of the Fire Nation and her brother dead, it was only fitting that she return home and allow her father to name her heir officially. The Sages would need to bear witness, of course. And once that happened, whether he realized it or not, Ozai's time on this world was limited. He might be older, but she knew that she was more powerful than he was. And she intended to show him. She couldn't know that Ty Lee had slipped back in quietly, on soft feet that almost seemed to not touch the ground at all, hiding behind a curtain and listening to Azula continue to talk to herself about her plans for having herself named heir and then her own coronation. She couldn't know that the minute Ty Lee had fully grasped the implications of all of it, the young acrobat had slipped away as silently as she'd come, passing Mai's door in concern at the soft sob that passed through the wood.


	2. Ch 2 The Fall of Ba Sing Se

_Mai was lying_, Ty Lee thought as she slipped into her own room. She _is_ upset that Zuko is dead. Azula was planning on a return to the Fire Nation soon, and when she did, she planned to kill her own father. Ozai was bad enough, but with Azula on the throne…

Ty Lee shuddered inwardly, laying upon her comfortable bed and staring up at the ceiling. Azula on the throne meant that the world would burn. When the comet came, Azula wouldn't try to subjugate the other nations, Ty Lee knew. She'd merely obliterate them in a wash of blue fire and laugh as it burned to ash. She had to be stopped, but when – and even more importantly, how? Reaching into the neckline of her shirt, she groped for something small that had hidden in there since the day she'd left the circus, giving her resignation to the Ringmaster. He'd taken a look at the Fire Nation Princess behind her and nodded, sympathy in his eyes. When he'd shaken her hand, he'd slipped this round object into it, and as she'd cartwheeled towards Azula, she'd made sure to slip it into her breast bindings where it wouldn't be found. She'd taken it out at the earliest opportunity and studied it carefully, recognizing it for what it was at once, and knowing that should the time come, she could use it, though it had been years since she'd been taught how. All she needed now was a tavern with a Pai Sho table – and a few moments away from Azula's piercing stares. That would probably be harder than anything else, she decided gloomily.

She spent most of the night trying to figure out how she could accomplish that, but she needn't have. When she awoke in the morning, Azula called her to the throne room and she leapt from the bed, putting the small tile back in her bindings and applying the cheerful, not-too-intelligent mask on her face once more.

She bowed low in front of her Princess, and waited for orders. "Ty Lee, Mai and I are going to spend the morning with the Dai Li, arranging for the destruction of the Wall. You will stay in the city and see that no one knows of the change in leadership until the Wall comes down. Two Dai Li agents will accompany you. I trust you to take care of any rebellions that you might spot quickly."

Ty Lee stood and nodded, knowing she was dismissed, though she was a little surprised that Azula was sending her out into the city. Why separate her now, unless she knew that Ty Lee was planning something? But she couldn't possibly, because her aura was not indicating suspicion – in fact, Ty Lee saw that it was bright lemon-yellow. Azula was afraid. She was afraid her father would reject her, and she wanted to control the city completely before she went home to crow about her victory. Azula could lie without the usual indicators, but Ty Lee could always read Azula's aura, always knew when she was lying and what she feeling. She fought the urge to hug the demon in front of her and bounded cheerfully from the room.

There wasn't a whisper of rebellion in the streets of the upper or middle rings, and for this, Ty Lee was grateful. The lower ring, however, was so full of dirty auras that Ty Lee couldn't make out whether the people had any knowledge of what had happened the night before or if they were just naturally so dismal. It was worse than being around Mai and she found it depressing to linger too long, but a likely looking tavern stood before her.

"I think we deserve a drink, don't you?" she asked cheerfully of her companions, whose names she had not bothered to learn. Their eyes sidled towards each other before one of them spoke.

"It is against Dai Li regulations to drink while in uniform," he said. This was interesting.

"Can we at least go in?" she asked, putting on her most charming smile, but the looks passed between the two again, and she knew that wouldn't work on them.

"No, we cannot. It is against Dai Li regulations," he repeated dully. This was better than she'd hoped.

"Well, fine," she pouted. "You two can stay out here then while I go in and have a drink! What Azula doesn't know won't kill me!" And with that, she bounded into the tavern, glancing at the faded but discernable lotus image next to the name on the overhanging sign. The men, she was sure, rolled their eyes and stood to either side of the door, determined to wait outside until she was finished. She looked about the dingy room carefully, her eyes still adjusting to the dimness, and spotted the Pai Sho table in the far back corner of the pub.

She bounced over to it and sat down, a true smile in place when the old man at the table looked somewhat surprised to see a young noblewoman in his midst.

"The guest has the first move," he said softly, and Ty Lee smiled brighter. She was in the right place. She reached into her bindings, drawing more than a few curious stares, and laid the white lotus tile on the center of the table.

The old man's eyes shot into his hairline, but he spoke calmly. "I see you favor the White Lotus Gambit. Not many still cling to the old ways."

"But those who do can always find a friend," she answered, tilting her head down in a show of respect. They played quickly, and within a few minutes an outline of a lotus blossom was created on the table.

"The White Lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets," the old man said softly, his respect for her clearly rising. She made the appropriate gesture in response, a bowed head with palms cupped and open in front of her.

"I must speak quickly and securely," she said softly. "Is there a place we can do this?"

"You may speak freely in here, young woman," the old man said. "I'm Bai Ben, and these men follow me."

"I'm honored to be in your presence, Bai Ben, but it is best that you do not know my name at this time," she said apologetically. "I have come with a warning and a message for the Grand Lotuses. Azula has captured Ba Sing Se. By nightfall, the entire city will know. She returns to the Fire Nation upon the morrow, but she will not stay there. She plans to overthrow her father and claim the throne for herself. She is mad, Bai Ben, and her rule will be the worst that the world has seen in many centuries."

"Thank you for the warning, my young friend," Bai Ben said, nodding. "We were aware that she had taken the city last night, and killed her own brother as well, but now that we are aware of her future plans, we can put out the warning. You must go, and quickly, before your guards come looking for you, but before you do, gargle this," he said, handing her a drink from under the table, "and if you are asked about your whereabouts, pretend drunkenness. It might save your life." Ty Lee nodded gratefully, swishing the burning liquid around her mouth briefly and standing unsteadily, forcing her eyes to appear unfocused and confused and dancing cheerfully out of bar. Bai Ben's respect for the young woman skyrocketed and he turned to face the men stationed at strategic points across the room.

"Get the message out. Make sure that it is received by all the Grand Lotuses across the world, but make sure that it is discreet. We want nothing to put this young girl's life in danger for the information she has brought to us, and if she is discovered, death is the best we could hope for her." The men nodded and the chairs across the room scraped at set intervals as each man got up according to his preplanned schedule and prepared to leave and pass on the most useful information to come their way in a long time.

When he was alone in the room, Bai Ben looked at the closed door. "Thank you, young Ty Lee. Your father will be proud when he learns of this."

* * *

Katara awoke to soft snores and warm furs. For a moment, her mind tricked her into believing that she was back home, snuggled into her pallet next to Sokka on the floor of the igloo, comfortable and secure in the knowledge that when she woke up, her day would be precisely as all those before had been, a reliable, safe monotony. The tenor of the snore was too deep, the temperature outside the furs too warm, and the crackling sound of roaring fire, the kind only used to keep a dying man warm, all belied her illusion and she forced her eyes open. The tent was distinctly Water Tribe and she recognized the weapons as those belonging to her father – there were rather distinctive marks on the end of one of the spears where Sokka had chewed upon the joint of the bone. She smiled at a sudden memory of her father using that to embarrass Sokka to his friends.

The snoring could belong to her father, she supposed; Sokka was certainly his father's son, after all, but it didn't sound right to her ears, so she darted her eyes around the tent and saw two sleeping forms, one of whom had a full gray beard and was the source of the noise. Though she had never really studied it before, she recognized it at once: Zuko's Uncle Iroh, the once-great General of the Fire Nation. With that realization the events of the catacombs came back to her and she looked at the other figure, noting the way the chest rose and fell slowly, but regularly. She rose to her knees and crawled carefully towards him, pulling the covers low on his waist so she could look at the wound of his chest.

"Oh, Zuko," she muttered. "I'm so grateful you did it, and yet I can't believe you did."

"Had to." His voice was hoarse and low. "Azula –" he broke off coughing.

"Shh," she whispered, pulling water from her skins and gloving her hands with it, passing them over the wound in his chest, noting in some relief that it was much smaller and less deep than it had been, and she could feel the pull of the moon upon her; it was still several hours until dawn. "Don't talk yet."

"Thank you," he continued.

"I said don't talk," she admonished softly, continuing to work on his chest until she felt tiredness pulling on her again. "There. I've done all I can for now. Go back to sleep."

She saw her father standing in the open flap of the tent, his eyes hooded and arms crossed across his chest and sighed wearily. She was not getting back to sleep for at least another hour. She followed her father out of the tent and under the stars, noting that Sokka, Aang and Toph were sitting, awake, around a small campfire, and turned their faces towards her. She knew her father was waiting for her explanation, but she felt that her duty was to inform the others of the Prince's condition before she explained things to her father. She walked towards the campfire, leaving Hakoda to stare after her in surprise.

"He'll live," Katara said, sitting next to Aang on a log around the fire. She saw her father sit across from her and continued. "I don't think he and his uncle are threats, but I want everyone to be extra-vigilant tonight. You more so than the rest of us, Aang." They nodded.

"Katara," Hakoda began, but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry I commandeered your tent without asking you first, but a man was dying and I had to help him," she said simply, waiting for the inevitable lecture. He smiled at her in a sad way and shook his head.

"You grew up without me, Katara," he said simply. "I could rant and rave and tell you to stay away from that boy, but in the end, you'd just do as you wished. I could try and prevent it, but it would only make things worse. These are sad times we are living in, when children like you are fully grown-up before they should have to."

"I had no choice," she said, frost entering her tone as she thought about her home. "Mom was gone, and I barely had time to accept that before you were gone, too. I know we had Gran-Gran and she loved us, but it wasn't the same. I had no choice but to grow up, and do it the best way I could, since I didn't have anyone to tell me how. I'm sorry if you don't like who I've become." She made to stand up, aware that the others were shifting uncomfortably around the fire as though they'd rather be anywhere but there, watching the slowly heating exchange between father and daughter.

"No, Katara," he said, and she looked at him carefully. "I am so proud and so honored to have such an accomplished, intelligent and compassionate woman for a daughter." She smiled, tears forming in the corner of her eyes, but the feeling only lasted for a moment, interrupted by another voice.

"Hey, what about me?" Sokka demanded.

"You, too," Hakoda said, laughing. The joyful barking sound, so similar to Sokka's, broke the awful tension of the past few minutes and everyone visibly relaxed.

Aang looked up tiredly and his eyes widened. "We're under attack!" he shouted, jumping to his feet and snapping open his glider. The tension returned tenfold and Katara doused the fire immediately as Hakoda watched the metal beast in the water struggle to move for a moment as Aang and Katara destroyed each flaming missile the ship threw at them. The attack lasted mere minutes before the Fire Navy ship appeared to stop dead in its tracks and all hands jumped overboard.

"The Stink and Sink!" Sokka crowed, looking at his father for conformation.

"Come on, men!" Hakoda roared, the Water Tribe Warriors rushing from their tents to his side. "It's time we rounded up some Fire Nation scum! Bato, you stay here and watch over those two," he pointed to his tent, "and the rest of you men get on the boats."

"What about me?" Katara asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"What about you?" Hakoda asked, staring at her in confusion. "Do you have a spear or a boomerang hidden somewhere on your person?" He raked his eyes over his daughter and wondered what she was getting at. A sharp smack to the back of his head got his attention and he spun, wondering where the attack had come from, meeting his daughter's eyes and noting the smirk on her face. "Oh."

"Yeah." Her voice was mocking and he shook his head with a slight smile, gesturing for her to follow him as he ran towards his ship. He watched, impressed, as his daughter used her Waterbending to scoop the Fire Nation soldiers from the depths of the bay before they drowned and deposit them on the deck.

"You won't be able to stop us," one man said between coughs, seawater spilling from his lungs. "The other ships will see you, they will see our ship and come – " His words were cut off as his entire face was covered in a coating of ice.

Hakoda stared at his daughter in dismay. _This_ was what she had learned? "Katara?" he asked. The ice shattered and the man opened his mouth to speak again, but apparently thought the better of it and lay upon the deck.

"He's right, Dad," Sokka said, interrupting whatever lecture Hakoda might have had for his daughter. "I think we should take the ship. If we hide our ships in a cave somewhere nearby, we can retrieve them later, but disguising ourselves as Fire Nation will give us a chance to pass through the bay without drawing undue attention to ourselves."

"It's a good plan Sokka, but what about these men?" Hakoda asked, curious to see what his son had to say about the men whose lives were literally in their hands at that moment. To his surprise, it was his daughter who answered.

"Give them a choice. They can help us or they can spend the rest of the journey in the brig of the ship as prisoners of war," she said, her voice as icy as the element she bent. Sokka nodded his agreement. Hakoda didn't know what to make of the suggestion. Were his children not there, he and his men would have simply executed the men and taken the ship, but he found he was uneasy with the idea that his children may not see it in the same way he did. It was war, after all, but they were so young.

_Not as young as you remember_, he thought, recalling the way his daughter had nearly suffocated the Firebender a few minutes before.

"It's a plan," he said, nodding to his men to go along with it. "Katara, can you free the ship from the tanglemines?"

She didn't answer with words, instead creating a deadly-sharp stream of water to cut through the bindings holding the ship in place. One of the Fire Nation soldiers stood and saluted her. "I have made my choice. I will follow her."

Hakoda took in the relative size of this boy to his comrades as well as the uncertain tenor of his voice and stifled a groan. On top of everything else, he now had a Fire Nation youth with a crush on his daughter on his hands.

With the help of Katara and Aang's Waterbending, the Water Tribe boats were safely concealed in a deep cave with a low ceiling. Aang, remembering the Swampbenders, pulled a thicket of vines to cover the entrance to the cavern. When Iroh, stretching comfortably, stepped out of Hakoda's tent, more than half of the captured Fire Nation men bowed deeply in respect.

"General Iroh, we did not know you were assisting the Water Tribe," one of the bolder men said from his prone position.

"On your feet, Lieutenant Jee," he chastised the man gently. "And I should rather say that they are assisting me. Prince Zuko had a rather nasty encounter with Princess Azula and is currently unconscious. Miss Katara, I was wondering if I might ask you to take a look at him while I speak to your esteemed father regarding these men and their fate?" Katara nodded, and Sokka understood the look in his father's eye. As she walked to the tent where the Fire Prince lay in a deep slumber, he followed her, holding the tent flap open so that they could enter.

Aang and Toph soon joined them, the latter immediately placing her hand on the fur-covered stone slab that the Prince was resting on. She shook her head, a motion Aang picked up on immediately. "What's wrong, Toph?" he asked, watching as Katara lowered the blankets covering Zuko's chest and staring in horror at the mangled wound in the center. _That could have been me,_ he thought. _That __**should**__ have been me._ Katara's hands were gloved in her glowing blue healing waters and resting gently on the wound, but Zuko didn't respond. Aang remembered asking the older boy, when he'd saved him from Zhao, if they could have been friends. He didn't want Zuko to die before he could find out the answer to that question.

"His heartbeat is really slow," Toph said, her voice barely above a whisper. Sokka stood at the entrance of the tent, eyes alert. "Steady and strong, but slow. I've never felt anything like it before."

"Yugoda told me about something like this when I was in the North Pole," Katara said without looking up. "She called it a coma. She said that people sometimes never wake up, even though there's nothing physically wrong with them – nothing to heal. But that it is important to keep them hydrated or they can die while in it."

"So he might never wake up?" Aang asked, his voice unsteady.

"I just don't know," Katara said softly.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I really hope he wakes up," Sokka added, drawing the gazes of Katara and Aang – even Toph looked in his general direction. "What?" he asked, outraged. "I'm not allowed to be concerned about the guy who saved Aang's life?"

Three heads shook as if they couldn't believe it, but Iroh entered the tent a moment later and the subject was dropped. "Miss Katara, Avatar Aang – we are preparing to move to the Fire Nation ship. I thank you, Miss Katara, for sparing the lives of our men – most of the crew were members of Zuko's original crew and will swear their loyalty to you simply because you did not allow him to die. Tonight, on that small wooden boat, you sowed some of the first seeds of cooperation between our nations." He surprised them all by dropping into a formal bow to the still-kneeling Waterbender. "You have my loyalty as well."

Katara blushed, but could not think of words to reply. She merely nodded gratefully and continued to mask her true actions with her healing gloves, though the dual effort of attempting to heal while trying to increase Zuko's heartrate through his blood was beginning to wear on her, and Toph, who had yet to remove her hand from the stone slab, was beginning to get a suspicious look to her face.

"Avatar Aang, Miss Toph, if you would be so kind as to help load my nephew onto the ship, I believe we are preparing to depart."

"Whatever you say, Uncle," Toph responded, her signature smirk in place. In what seemed like no time, they had everything loaded upon the much-larger Fire Nation ship, with Captain Jee steering them safely through the treacherous waters. Few of the Fire Nation soldiers had chosen the brig, but those that were there were treated fairly, if only because there were children on board the vessel. After much deliberation, Iroh had decided that the best place for Zuko was a small room next to the boiler room. Though Katara found it almost unbearably hot, she didn't complain, determined as she was to make sure that her patient survived. Through the following days, she was vaguely aware of her father, Sokka and the General formulating and then discarding plans. She knew that Aang and Toph were somewhere in the ship, working on teaching Aang Metalbending, if the clangs that sometimes echoed through the halls were any indication. King Kuei had decided against joining them, setting off on Bosco to travel the world. Katara split her time between eating, sleeping and healing. In the back of her mind, she was aware that Aang was beginning to resent the amount of time she was spending away from him, but she knew, as he did, that it couldn't be helped.

And she was so tired. So very tired. She yawned and stood up, slipping the water from her hands into the bucket that was emptied regularly by someone on the crew, and leaving the room, meeting Iroh in the hallway, sweat dripping down her face and arms.

"Thank you, Lady Katara," he said. "You will be an excellent addition to the Fire Nation someday." She stared at him in horror.

"Ally, not addition. I apologize," he said with a knowing smile. "I did not mean to imply that we would ever hold you against your will or make a decoration of you. Simply that you have the true bearing and grace of a Lady of our Nation, and I would be honored to count you as one of us."

Katara nodded awkwardly and ducked away from the General. It wasn't the first time he'd said something like that to her, and she was starting to wonder exactly what it was he meant by it. _Wait, did he just call me Lady Katara?_

Iroh smiled to himself. Oh, that hadn't been very subtle, and he was aware of it, but he'd tried subtle on the Waterbender in the past, and it hadn't opened her eyes one mite, so he was resorting to more direct speech – well, direct for him, at any rate. He would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to notice the increasing concern the Lady Katara was showing over his nephew. And Iroh was none of the above. Unfortunately, the poor girl had simply worked herself to exhaustion over the boy, and that would never do. She would likely bring the entire ocean upon them, but Chief Hakoda had agreed. The girl must be locked in her room – it really was for her own good. There was only so much she could do for Zuko, and Iroh knew that, locked in dreams as he was, his nephew was rapidly approaching a decision that the others assumed he'd already made, and that when he awoke, the true test of the boy's loyalties would begin.

* * *

**For those who have read this before, you'll notice, if you're careful, that Chapter 2 has been retitled, and that the ending has been changed. Zuko has not yet woken, and so it is not yet 'The Awakening'. This chapter and Chapter 3 are what happens between 'Crossroads' and 'The Awakening'. For those who have been following this story all this time (or for those who recognize the name but thought that story had been deleted) I renamed this. Blood and Ashes is what I kept calling it, so it is what I am going to call it. Sorry for the confusion.**


	3. Ch 3 The Legend of Agni and Suijin

**Header note: Edits to the story have been made in the previous chapter – edits that change the plot slightly. I strongly suggest you reread that before reading this. Thank you. Also, in case I've not mentioned, I do not own anything except the convoluted plot (and not even all of that.)**

* * *

"If you don't let me out of here right now, I swear by all that is sacred I will capsize this ship and you will all have to swim your way to shore!" Katara screeched, banging on the metal of locked portal in front of her. A small sound of dismay came from the other side of the door, and she knew she was getting through to Aang, but Toph's voice came through loud and clear.

"Not a chance, Sugarqueen! Your patient can't swim yet – he's still in that coma-thing, and you'd die before letting him drown, so just sit on your bed and sleep like a good little Waterbender and when you've gotten a full day's rest, I'll let you out. Every minute you fight this is a minute of Aang's training you're wasting, you know. I could be teaching him how to Metalbend, but instead, I have to be out here, making sure you don't escape – General Iroh's orders."

"And Dad's," Sokka's voice chimed in. "Go to sleep, Katara. You look like something a tigerseal dragged home to her cubs for dinner. I know you're worried about the Jerkbender, but you're not any good to him exhausted."

Katara let loose a sound of frustration, recognizing it sounded more animal than human, but unable to stop the feral noise from escaping her throat. "I am a Master Waterbender! I don't answer to General Iroh or to Dad!" she shouted, feeling the waves rocking the ship in her fury.

"Hold on to something!" Toph yelled. Things in Katara's room started skidding across the floor; a candle tipped onto its side and drowned quickly in its own wax, and she was still unable to contain her rage.

"Katara," her father said, his voice dangerous, "if you cannot control yourself, you will leave us no choice but to bind you to your bed while the General makes you a sleeping tea. You have admitted that the young man is in no further danger, and if he takes a turn for the worse, we will certainly release you, but you must rest. You are exhausted, my little sea prune, and I cannot allow you to fall ill yourself. You are too crucial to all of us."

The old nickname brought back memories of her mother's voice, calming her in the early days of her youth, when her bending had first begun to manifest, and she had been unable to control it. She smelled the brine of the fire as it smoked from the improperly dried seaweed Sokka had thrown on it on the wind that blew through her open porthole, and she closed her eyes and breathed it in. Her right hand reached up of its own volition to stroke the engravings of the worn stone around her neck; the symbol of love painstakingly carved by a man her grandmother had abandoned long before she had been born, passed from generation to generation as a treasure of remembrance. Her left hand reached for the doorway in an effort to steady herself against the rocking of the ship, and she suddenly realized how tired she was. Truthfully, she was bone-weary. Normal healing was exhausting, but this strange healing using Zuko's own blood was far more so. Perhaps, if she simply rested for a short while, she would be able to convince them that she was more fit to attend her patient. She sank to the floor against the metal door, knowing Toph would feel her capitulation, that she need not say her surrender aloud.

"Tell me a story, Daddy," she offered instead, the olive branch of a tired little girl who wishes for her lost youth and innocence restored.

"I wish I could, but we're coming into rough seas, and the men need me on deck," her father replied. Katara was on the verge of shouting that the men always needed him somewhere, and while she knew that 'rough seas' was the euphemism for 'seas rife with Fire Nation ships that could discover them at any time' she still felt the sting of betrayal.

"I'm afraid I don't know any Water Tribe legends," General Iroh broke in, before Katara could begin her tirade, "but I do know any number of Fire Nation tales. If you would consent, Lady Katara, I would be honored to sit here, on the other side of the door, and tell you as many of them as you like, provided you promise me that you will return to your side with the appropriate bedding to make yourself comfortable. Lieutenant Jee is sitting with Zuko today, so we shall be informed if he awakens. We'll be quite fine."

"That sounds lovely, General Iroh, sir," she said, for it truly did sound appealing, though a pang hit her. The general was not young, and surely he shouldn't be sitting alone in the cold metal hallway either. "But would it be permissible for you to join me and make yourself comfortable as well, as long as I promise to remain in my bed?"

She could almost hear the wordless conversation taking place on the other side of the doorway before the response came. "That is acceptable to your father, but your brother and young Lady Bei Fong and the Avatar would also like to join us, if you promise to remain in bed. Do you agree to the terms?"

Through gritted teeth, she replied, "I will stay in bed." She made her way across the room and climbed into the bunk sullenly.

She heard the metal of the door opening and then a small entourage trooped into her room. Everyone save for the general leapt into a giant puppy pile on the bed with her, while Iroh made himself comfortable in a chair. Her father waved encouragingly from the door before closing it with a metallic clang.

"Though I don't know any Water Tribe tales, I can tell you the legend of Agni and Suijin, the ancient lovers of the Time Before the Avatar," Iroh said cheerfully. "It is a tragic story, though it does tell how the nations became divided and the Avatar was born. Would that suit you?"

Aang looked interested, and even Toph perked up. Katara nodded, though she didn't really care. The forced confinement still grated on her. She settled herself comfortably against her pillows as the old general's voice began his tale.

"Long ago, before humans began marking time, there were four spirits who watched over our kind. There was no bending, there were no nations as we know them now, and there was no war. Agni was the god of Fire and he made the sun rise and set each day. Suijin was the goddess of the Waters and rain and she made the moon wax and wane. Vayu was the god of the Winds, and he made the breezes blow to cool the lands. Izanami was the goddess of the Earth itself, and she made the crops grow full and lush so that people would be able to eat.

"It was told that Agni was the father of all dragons, and that was his favored form, though he could take any that he chose. Suijin was the mother of all koi, and that was her form, though like Agni, she could take any she liked. Vayu was a sky bison, and Izanami was a badger mole." Iroh paused a moment to take a breath, and Aang chimed in.

"Those are the spirit animals of the Avatar!"

"Yes, young Avatar, they are," Iroh said. "You see, this legend not only tells the beginning of the Avatar, it tells the beginnings of bending as we know it. Tui and La, the koi fish at the Spirit Oasis of the North Pole, are the spirits of the Ocean and the Moon, are they not? And it is from the Moon that Waterbenders learned their craft.

"And it is from these great spirits – the first spirits – that all life began. Those in the Fire Nation will call themselves the Children of Agni, but in truth, we are all children of Agni. Just as we are all children of Suijin, and Vaju, and Izanami." He paused again to let this sink in.

"According to Fire Nation legend, anyway," Katara cut in, rather rudely.

"Ah, but Lady Katara, this legend does not belong to the Fire Nation," Iroh said softly. "Indeed, this legend is not known in the Fire Nation at all – nor in any of the Four Nations."

"Where did you hear it, then?" Toph asked, her blind eyes fixed to a point above the general's head. Though she couldn't see it, the older man looked tired, sad. There was a great weight of worry on his face – Katara could see that this tale, wherever he learned it, had come to him at a great price.

"Perhaps you have heard that I lost my son in my foolish siege of Ba Sing Se?" he asked, his eyes downcast. No one spoke, though all nodded. "After his death, I sought entrance into the Spirit World, foolishly hoping I could plead with the spirits to return him. Even for the Avatar, this is impossible. Once a spirit has left this world, there is no way to return it. Instead, the spirits granted me this vision, knowing that the day would come that I would cross paths with the Avatar and his companions and that I would be able to impart this knowledge."

The room fell silent. Katara contemplated how terrible it must have been for Iroh to journey to the Spirit World to try to save his son and be offered nothing but a tale to pass on to the Avatar instead. She imagined trying to save her mother and being given a story to tell Aang in return. Bitterness gripped her.

"It's not fair!" she cried shrilly. "All that trouble just so you could tell Aang this story?"

"The spirits do not care for human notions of 'fair', Lady Katara," Iroh offered with a gentle smile, "They are more concered with the fate of the world. And Aang is the Avatar – he is the spirit of the world made flesh. And I believe there is something to this tale that he already knows, I am correct?"

"The separation of the Four Nations is only an illusion," Aang said dutifully, as one reciting a lesson learned by rote with little understanding of its meaning.

"Ah, you speak the words, but you do not truly understand," he said sadly. "You will learn." Iroh paused again and took a deep breath. "The great spirits watched over all mankind, for all mankind belonged to them. And because all mankind benefitted from each of the great spirits, they worshipped them all. In these times, those who are born of Fire revere Agni, and have not heard of Suijin, Izanami or Vayu, though I suspect that Aang, at least, has heard of Vayu. And while Katara, Sokka and Aang are familiar with the spirits of the Ocean and Moon, you are probably not aware that they are the children of Suijin, are you?" They shook their heads.

"I thought not," he said. "The old legends have died, and this is why I have been granted the gift of this one, so that it may live again, for it teaches us much. In the time before the Avatar, there were creatures that no longer exist in our world – or if they do, they exist in realms that we cannot reach. But I get ahead of myself. What is important is that there was balance. There was no division of nations. We were all one people. But such things do not last forever.

"Agni and Suijin were deeply in love, as were Vayu and Izanami, but Vaju was a peaceful, free-spirited being, following his winds, and Izanami wished him to be more constant. She pined for the passion she felt in Agni's warmth, and became jealous of the love of Agni. Vayu attemped to reason with her, reminding her time and again that for the balance to be kept, it must remain as it was, but it was to no avail. With time, her jealousy grew to monstrous proportions, and she attempted to split the lovers. In her fury, she rent her lands, separating the peoples in them, rending families so that they, too, might feel her pain. Agni was a vengeful being, and when he saw what Izanami had done, he grew incensed and let loose fire from the heavens, punishing the lands, pushing up volcanoes and burning the lush greenery she had created in an effort to show her the error of her ways. He exterted his energy to do this.

"Suijin, who was possessed of a gentler, more forgiving nature, was appalled at his actions, though it did not affect her love for him. She flooded the lands to extinguish the flames, knowing that as she did so, she was putting out her lover's very essence. The legend tells that as she extinguished him, she breathed her last, giving birth to her children, Tui and La, so that the Moon and Ocean might live on after her own demise. When the waters receded, Izanami looked upon the destruction of the land, and saw what the power of their love was capable of, and realized how her jealousy had destroyed the people she had spent her life protecting. She was overcome with shame and burrowed deep into the earth, never to be seen again. When Vaju returned and saw the aftermath of it all, he flew high into the heavens, vowing to return when the other spirits were reborn and the balance was restored."

When Iroh finished this part of the tale, Katara looked at the others to gauge their reactions. Aang was rapt, looking at Iroh as though he held the wisdom of the ages. Sokka seemed entranced, as though here, finally, was the answer he'd always been seeking, and Toph seemed to be mulling it over as though deciding what was true and what was not. For her part, Katara kept pondering over the simplest meaning of it: Agni had been Fire; Suijin had been Water; Izanami had been Earth; Vayu had been Air. If the legend had come from the Spirit World, as Iroh claimed, was there a message in that? Was the balance that the spirits needed to return something that simple?

"After the Great Spirits left the earth, the dragons grew lonely, as did the badger-moles and the sky bison. Those in the poles began to watch the Moon, and learn to push and pull the water from watching the Moon push and pull the tide, and the others began to learn to bend from the spirit-animals that had once played with the Great Spirits themselves. Early peoples speculated that the Great Spirits came back, in the forms of those creatures to teach bending to them, but the legend says nothing of this – in fact, it says the Great Spirits still wait for the balance to be restored before returning. The World itself, feeling the rifts, released its spirit, and released it into a human body – the first Avatar. The Avatar was always meant to restore the great balance, though it appears that the meaning of that has been corrupted over the generations."

It suddenly made sense, at least to Katara. Sokka looked confused, but Toph was nodding. Aang looked stricken. Iroh merely looked downcast.

"You mean, defeating the Firelord won't restore the balance," Aang said softly, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. "I have to convince the world to let go of all divisions, and go back to a time before there was even an Avatar – to bring back the Great Spirits – in order to actually restore the balance?"

"Excuse me, General Iroh," Katara said indignantly. "Don't you think that's an awful lot of responsibility for you to throw at him right now!"

"I beg your pardon, Lady Katara," he said gravely, "but it was not I who decided that Avatar Aang should be told this. It was the Spirits who wanted this to be made known to him."

"That's all well and good," she continued hotly, "but couldn't this have waited until after he'd finished the first task? Did you have to dump all this on him today?"

"Katara," Aang started, but she cut him off.

"No, Aang, let me finish. He comes in here, on the pretense of helping me 'relax' while I'm helping to heal his nephew who has tried to kill us all on multiple occasions just so he can tell you one more thing you have to do when you already have enough on your plate!" She was screaming by the time she finished and the ship was rocking dangerously, but she didn't care.

"Lady Katara, please – a moment more of your time and I'll let you continue to yell at me." Iroh held up a hand for her silence. "On our way to rescue you, Aang asked me a question, which, at the time, I didn't fully understand. In my concern for reaching Zuko, I didn't process the ramifications of the question. What you should have taken from the story, Avatar Aang, was not just that there is more to restoring balance than defeating my brother, but that great power goes hand in hand with great responsibility."

Aang hung his head, and Katara looked at him, confused. "Happiness and love are always a good choice, Avatar Aang," Iroh said softly. "But it is important that you understand that they have their place. Remember Izanami. Had she loved where she was meant to, she would have been happy, but she chose to love what she could not have, what was not hers to love, and it destroyed the world and upset the balance."

"How dare you!" Katara shouted. "Aang would never do that! Tell him Aang! You would never, ever put the world in jeopardy because you loved someone more than you loved the world! You're the Avatar! You couldn't do that!" She waited for a heartbeat. Aang was silent, and she looked searchingly at his face while he refused to meet her eyes. "Aang, _tell_ him you would never do that!"

He jumped off the bed and ran from the room, slamming the metal door behind him.

"Way to go, Sugar Queen," Toph said, hopping down to the floor and following in his wake. Sokka put a restraining hand on her arm.

"Let them go, Lady Katara," Iroh said softly. "The Avatar has things he must work out on his own, and the young Toph will be more help than you can in this. For now, I think it is time that you get that rest your father ordered. Master Sokka and I will retire to my quarters for some calming Jasmine tea, I think," he added with a grin.

Within moments, her room was empty, and Katara was alone with her thoughts. What exactly had that been about? She thought back to everything she knew about Aang, and realized that yes, Aang had chosen personal things before the fate of the world before, but surely that wouldn't make him run from her now. Whatever it was, it had to be something more recent, something she didn't know about.

But what?

Her last thought before drifting into the sleep her body so desperately needed was that Aang was slipping away from her, and that she didn't know how to stop it if he was going to keep so many secrets from her.

* * *

"I knew you'd be down here," she said, flicking a piece of coal at his head. He didn't even flinch. She sighed, rolling her eyes. This was going to take awhile. She plopped down on the cold metal of the ship's hull next to him in the coal storage compartment next to him, leaning her head against the wall.

"Must be pretty serious if you're running from Fussybritches," she muttered, trying for joking and knowing she failed.

"I lied about mastering the Avatar State," he admitted, facing away from her, if his voice was anything to go by. He sounded so ashamed, but she couldn't help the chuckle that popped out at his confession.

"Didn't even have to be the World's Greatest Earthbender to figure that one out, Twinkletoes – well, unless you're Snoozles," she said. "I didn't call you on it at the time, figured you had your reasons for lying about it, but I did wonder – why lie to us? If it was too hard, or whatever, we would have understood."

"It wasn't that it was too hard – you heard Iroh," he mumbled.

"Yeah, something about happiness and love – the old guy speaks in riddles," she said cheerfully. "I want to hear it from you, so speak." She shifted her feet slightly, making sure they were aligned flat on the floor so she could gauge the veracity of his words. If he was going to lie to her again, she wanted to know.

He told her then, about meeting the Guru, and unlocking his chakras – until he got to his last one. When he told the story, and the reasons he'd failed to unlock the final one, and how he'd blocked himself from entering the Avatar State for good, she held her breath.

"But, I sort of it did it," he finished, "in the cave." She released it. "But it wasn't all the way, I don't know how, though. Maybe I don't know how to let her go, or maybe I don't want to, deep down – I just don't know. In my visions of my past life, whenever they go into the Avatar State, they glow for a second, and then they are in complete control of the power. I can go into the Avatar State at will now, which is an improvement, but once I'm there, I'm still not IN control of it, it controls me," he finished sadly.

"That's some deep stuff, Twinkles," she said with feeling. "And all this because you're in love with Sugar Queen? If that's how it works, I don't ever wanna fall in love." She threw another piece of coal at his head.

"What was that for?" he said, rubbing the side of his skull.

"You're getting all gloomy, starting to remind me of that weird knife girl," she said cheerfully. "So what, we got a lot more crap to figure out. All that means is we gotta train harder. So, get your butt up and let's train."

"Sorry, Toph, but I'm not really in the mood to train right now," he complained. Another piece of coal hit him in the head. "Ouch!"

"Did I ask if you wanted to train?" she demanded. "And that's Sifu Toph to you, mister. Now let's move it!" Another piece of coal hit him. Then another. And then another. Soon he was being pelted by coal and the only way to defend himself was to bend the coal back at her while she cackled maniacally from behind a coal wall at him.

"Is that the best you can do?" she taunted. "I thought you were supposed to be all-powerful or something like that?" A wave of coal rushed towards her wall, but she parted it so that it passed harmlessly around and then turned it on her opponent. "That's more like it, Twinkles!" she shouted when a single piece of coal came and hit her from behind. Their laughed commingled and could be heard from the room above where Iroh and Sokka were having their soothing cup of Jasmine tea.

* * *

**A/N: It's been awhile, yes? The muse spoke to me today. It appears she said 'infodump'. Can't help what the muse wants to do. The Legend of Agni and Suijin has been playing around in my demented head in one form or another since 2008. It began, in some form, with Sakura Kiss, and has grown since then. It was originally meant to be a Fire Nation legend, but I chose to make it from the Spirits instead. I really can't wait to hear if anyone else loves the legend as much as I do.**


	4. Ch 4 The Awakening

**Chapter 4 – The Awakening**

**A/N: Finally! Zuko wakes up! And the story can FINALLY get moving!**

* * *

She'd gotten very little rest, but after everything that had transpired in her cabin, she supposed that was to be expected. She'd woken to find her cabin unlocked – finally – and gone straight to the small room next to the boiler. Her instincts (she groaned internally at the word) told her that Zuko would wake soon, though she wasn't sure what really told her that. Perhaps it was a change in his breathing; it seemed steadier than it had the last time she'd been allowed to check on him. Maybe it was the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat, stronger than it had been before. The wound on his chest was healing nicely, though she knew it would leave a scar.

That brought to mind the things he'd said in the catacombs below Ba Sing Se, about the scar he already carried, and how he felt about it. She wondered, as she stood in the kitchen, stirring a pot of stew, how he would feel about the one he would now have. She sighed, and tried not to worry too much. It was possible that he'd feel negatively about it. After all, he had spent the better part of a year chasing the Avatar, and now he would carry a scar from saving his life. It would have to be an odd transition for the volatile Firebender.

Katara groaned, her arms heavy. She wasn't sure what to call the healing she was doing on the former Prince – or was he still the Prince of the Fire Nation, even after turning his back on his sister the way he had? – but she did know it was far more exhausting than any other form of bending that she had ever done. As much as she resented being locked in her room as if she were a prisoner, and being forced to rest like a child, she knew that her father and the General had been correct in forcing her to do so. It was wearing her down. Because of it, she wasn't sure she even had the energy to wonder about what was bothering Aang, but she promised herself, and him, that as soon as Zuko woke up, she would find the energy.

She looked over the spices in front of her in confusion, wishing she knew which ones were appropriate to use in the stew – none of them were common in the Water Tribe, and she'd sent the General to look over Zuko while she made dinner.

"Is there anything you need, Lady Katara?" a voice asked, and she turned around to find Lieutenant Jee standing behind her. At first she'd found him intimidating, as she'd found most of the Fire Nation soldiers on board, but now he was merely another member of the crew. Someday, she knew she would have to ponder that one as well.

"I was just wondering which of these spices would be best in the stew," she answered honestly, pointing to the spices.

"I'm partial to this one," he said, pulling down a small jar. "But I know that General Iroh and Prince Zuko prefer this one," he admitted, pulling down a second. "You can use both, but only sparingly, or either liberally. It depends on your preference." He smiled down at her. "Would you care for assistance?"

"That would be lovely," she admitted. They got to work, and she watched as Jee put a small amount of both spices into the stew. "I've been meaning to ask you, if it's not too personal a question, why did you choose to join us instead of fight when you saw who we had with us?" she asked curiously.

"Well, considering who I'm talking to, I guess I can be completely honest," he said with a small chuckle. "Prince Zuko – well, he's never been my favorite commander. General Iroh did tell us why he is the way he is, and I guess I understand it – but he's just a kid and no one likes taking orders from someone the age of their own sons, or younger. Especially when they've got an attitude like the Prince's. But General Iroh's another story. I know the Fire Nation has done a lot of things to your family – your father's told me about it – but most people in the Fire Nation don't want the kind of war that Ozai's fighting, and if the General had been the Firelord, it wouldn't have been this way."

"But you do want war," she accused softly, trying not to sound rude.

"Not really," he said. "Most of us – well, for most of us, it is what we've been raised to think is right, the same way you were raised to think that the Fire Nation is evil because they want to take over the world. We were raised to think that it was our duty to take over the world, not because we are evil, but because we have to share our technology and our greatness with the other nations. Take this ship, for example. It's far more advanced than the ships of any other nation. With ships like this in every nation, trade could be conducted more swiftly, with less loss of produce and livestock to the elements in shipment."

Katara stared at him. It was true, in a way. The Fire Nation ship was technologically superior to the beautifully crafted Water Tribe boats her father and his men made back home. If they had Waterbenders in her Tribe, they might be able to ship things to other nations with something resembling speed and efficiency, but not nearly at the rate of the ship she was currently traveling on. And without Waterbenders, there was a definite disadvantage to the boats of her Tribe. But…

"If the Fire Nation wants to share its technology with the other nations and create more efficient trade routes, why not just help establish shipyards in other nations? Why try to take them over?" she demanded.

"Because that's the ruse," he admitted. "It's the way the Firelord and his council inspire the citizens to fight – they tell the people of the Fire Nation that the other nations won't cooperate, that the last Avatar wouldn't allow negotiations, and that the only way to share this greatness was to take the land for it."

"And they believe him?" she asked, appalled.

"The Firelord has the divine right to rule, given to him by the Fire Sages, passed down from Agni himself – of course they do," Jee said, but not unkindly. They fell into silence as Katara digested that.

"So they aren't just fighting for their country, they are fighting for their spirits, too," she said softly.

* * *

Zuko opened his eyes. His chest felt as though there was a four-hundred pound koala-lizard sitting on it. "Water," he managed to croak out, his voice feeling as though he hadn't used it in months.

A cup was passed to him, and in the dimness of the room, he saw his uncle's outline. He felt something akin to relief, though he didn't remember why he should, at first. The room was small, cramped, and hot. It seemed out of sorts with what he felt he should be in, but he didn't know why, nor did he really know why he felt so miserably, either.

"She said you would probably wake up today," his uncle said. "She has healed you as best she could, but the methods were – unusual." Zuko registered the pause, but didn't understand who the 'she' was. His memories were too fuzzy.

"You chose poorly, my nephew," Iroh said, his voice deliberately too low to be heard outside the walls of the room. "You sided with your sister. You chose to redirect her lightning because you feared that without a _live_ Avatar to bring home, your father would not welcome you."

At his uncle's words, Zuko's memories came back in flashes, and he closed his eyes. The Waterbender in the catacombs, offering to heal his scar. His uncle and the Avatar arriving to rescue them. His sister coming to offer him a deal. _Azula always lies._ The Waterbender fighting his sister in the cavern. Her face when he'd sided with Azula. The Avatar rising, a glowing being of power – and Azula's stance as she prepared to strike him down. _Azula always lies._

Zuko said nothing. His uncle knew him too well for him to dispute it.

"I have said nothing to the others of my suspicions, Prince Zuko," Iroh said, when Zuko still remained silent. "I believe that there is time for you to make the right choice." He drew in a breath, and Zuko opened his eyes, looking at his uncle's face in surprise. There was a hardness, a coldness there that he'd never seen. "But know this. Should the Avatar be handed over to Ozai, I will mourn your loss, son of my heart, but I will take you down myself."

With these words, Iroh stood and left the chamber, and Zuko was left staring after his uncle in astonishment. His uncle had been angry at him before, for any number of reasons, but he had never threatened him. He tried to make his jumbled thoughts process everything. His uncle wouldn't really hurt him – let alone kill him. He knew that. It was just a threat. He pushed away the nagging voice that tried to warn him that his uncle did not make idle threats.

The Waterbender had healed him. That must be the unusual methods his uncle had spoken of – the special water she'd held up, offering him the trust he'd spurned in order to seize glory at the side of Azula instead. _Azula always lies._ She hadn't wanted to capture the Avatar, she'd wanted to kill him, leaving Zuko an exile forever. He couldn't let her do that. He'd had to stop her. When he brought the Avatar to his father, he would explain it, and finally his father would welcome him home, and Azula would be punished.

_She'd healed him._

He stared at the Fire Nation insignia on the wall until the black and red of the hanging ran together and his eyes burned. The two thoughts wouldn't leave him alone.

* * *

Hakoda looked at the older man leaning against the wall as though it was his only support and wondered if something had happened. He looked at his son, a quick glance to let him know that he would handle this, and stepped towards General Iroh.

"Something wrong, General?" he asked, offering him a sympathetic look.

"No," he said, but Hakoda was sure it was a lie. "But I feel I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Could someone please see that Lady Katara is informed that my nephew has awakened? I'm going to rest for a little while."

"Of course," Hakoda said, and he and Sokka headed towards the galley, leaving the older man to make his way alone. Relief hit every man differently, Hakoda knew, and it was certainly no surprise that it had taken the General in such a way. He had been genial the entire time his nephew had been unconscious, but the Watertribesman knew that he had been greatly worried, and he deserved his rest.

As he stepped into the doorway of the galley, he noticed the light footsteps of the Avatar coming behind him, and he smiled. The boy must also be looking for Katara; the crush was as obvious as it was amusing, and almost as amusing was Katara's obliviousness to it. He had probably come to see if Katara would practice with him, and now she'd be off to the small room they'd jokingly dubbed the infirmary, leaving the tiny Airbender out in the cold once more.

Katara and Jee were standing side by side in silence, and while it seemed comfortable enough, Hakoda could sense that there was a tension in the air, as if the conversation that had finished before was still vibrating between them. He cleared his throat. "Katara, General Iroh said that the boy has woken up," he said. She dropped the spoon she was using to stir the stew into the pot and jumped.

"I'll fish that out," the other man said. "You go see to Prince Zuko." She nodded.

"Thank you," she said. "Bye, everyone." She waved as she darted out of the galley and through the doorway, down the halls and out of sight.

"Wonder if we should go say hi to the Angry Jerk or something," Sokka said, looking down at Aang curiously.

"I dunno," Aang said slowly. "You know how she gets if you interrupt her…" he trailed off.

"You make a very good point," Sokka said, sitting down on a bench in the galley instead. "Food it is." Hakoda shook his head. On the surface, his son seemed almost normal, but Hakoda had raised Sokka, and as Bato had mentioned on more than one occasion, the boy was his son, in almost all ways. It didn't take a genius to know that there was something bothering him, something that had nothing to do with the Firebending Prince or his uncle.

_Just one more thing to add to my list._ Hakoda was weary even thinking of it.

"I've been thinking," Sokka said, around bites of jerky he'd pulled from a shelf. "We still have the advantage of the eclipse, and even if we don't have a real army, we do have another advantage – Iroh and the jerk know the palace better than we do. They can help us."

"That's a good idea, Sokka," he said, "but remember that saving the Avatar's life and helping him kill the Firelord are completely different things. Ozai is Zuko's father. That's an awfully big thing you're asking of him. Even if he's not actually present for the invasion, just giving you the information to get you inside is taking a very big step."

Sokka gulped. It was clear that until that moment, he hadn't really thought of what Zuko's relationship to the Firelord was – not in real, tangible terms. He stared at his own father, and he grew pale. His thoughts were visible on his face, and Hakoda knew that he was wondering what he would do if someone asked him to help them kill his own father.

"So, maybe I need to think of a better plan," he said out loud. Hakoda nodded.

"At the very least," Jee said, reminding them all that he was still in the room, "you should ask Prince Zuko what he thinks before you include him in your plans. He may wish to pursue other avenues, or he might have suggestions for plans that you may not have considered. He can be quite the strategist. As can General Iroh," he added.

Aang piped in, "Who said anything about killing Ozai?"

Every head in the room turned towards him. "What do you mean?" Hakoda asked slowly, sensing he was on dangerous ground with the closed look on the young face.

"I never said I was going to kill anyone," Aang said. "Defeat him, sure. Get him off the throne and stop the war. But I'm not killing Ozai or anyone else. The monks taught me that all life is sacred. There's been enough killing in this war already. I'm not going to add to it." With those words, he left the room.

Hakoda looked at his son. "How does he think he's going to defeat Ozai without killing him?" he asked.

"I don't know," Sokka said slowly. "I mean – I always assumed he knew that he'd have to kill the Firelord. We never talked about how he would defeat him, but I thought he knew." He trailed off into a deep silence.

Hakoda sighed. _Make that one more thing to add to my list._

* * *

Katara was used to coming and going from the 'infirmary'. She opened the door without thinking.

"Don't you knock?" he said, his voice rusty from disuse.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking down at her feet. He wasn't doing anything, just sitting up in the bed with the blanket up around his chest, but she found herself embarrassed. "I was coming to check on you," she told her feet.

"Then do it and get out," he said gruffly.

"That's a fine thank you for saving your miserable life," she spat, looking at him. "I should have just left you there to rot!"

"Oh, shut up, both of you," Toph said from the doorway. "Sparky, thank Fussybritches for saving your life – she had to do some seriously freaky stuff with your blood to keep your heart beating, you know! And Sweetness, stop being so hard on the guy – he's been mostly dead for weeks!"

They both stared at her in amazement before mumbling apologies. "Let me take a look at that now you're awake," Katara said, pointing at his chest. He nodded, eyeing her warily as she approached. She couldn't blame him. Save for the catacombs, she didn't think there had been a time that he'd been truly conscious when she had come towards him with water and not hurt him.

She sat on the floor beside the bed and let the healing energy flow through her, blushing as she put her hands on his chest. He gasped as the cool water made contact. She closed her eyes and felt deeper than skin, searching out the rhythm she'd become accustomed to over the weeks, sending his blood through the wound to attempt to accelerate the healing. She heard his breathing hitch.

"What are you doing?" he gasped, his voice strangled.

"Freaky stuff with your blood," Toph answered. "I already told you that. Sheesh, doesn't anyone listen to me? Now stop spazzing out, or she might hurt you accidentally. The faster your heart beats, the harder it is for her – I can tell, you know."

His eyes widened and his heart rate sped up – Katara could tell through his blood. "Toph, stop it! You're making it worse!" she chided.

The younger girl giggled. "Fine, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." She banged out of the room.

"What are you doing to my blood?" he asked angrily.

"Using it to heal your wounds," she answered through gritted teeth. "It's much harder now that you're awake. I wouldn't have even thought such a thing was possible – your uncle suggested it when he thought you were dying, so I had to try."

"You're _bending_ my _**blood**_!" he demanded, pulling away from her. Blood started pouring from the wound in his chest. "What did you do to me!"

"Lay still, you idiot! I can fix this!" she shouted, shoving him down on the bed, forcing him to stay there with a knee across his chest and furiously bending the blood and the water across the now open wound where the lightning had struck him. "Why did you move?"

The door to his room opened, and she could swear she heard him mutter, "Doesn't anyone around here knock?" before the doorway was filled with her father, Aang peeking through a small gap between his legs and the door.

"Is everything alright, Katara?" her father asked. "We heard shouting."

Aang was glaring at Zuko. It was clear that the shouting had alarmed them.

"It'll be fine as soon as I can stop the bleeding," she insisted. Zuko had gone extremely pale and limp under her hands. His breathing and heartbeat were getting shallow again. "I need bandages!" she cried. "Someone get General Iroh!"

"Why is he bleeding?" her father asked, nodding to Jee to get both the bandages and the General.

"No time to explain now, I've got to fix this!" she said shortly. "After all the work I put into saving you, don't you dare die on me now," she muttered to Zuko.

Slowly, she could feel the flow of blood leaving the wound cease. She couldn't put it back, she didn't know how, but she could stop it, force it to heal over, combining the water and the blood that she held in her hands. The bleeding stopped, and someone handed her bandages, which she used to mop up the blood. She looked up and saw Iroh.

"He pulled away when he realized what I was doing," she murmured, softly so that the others wouldn't hear her. "I couldn't release his blood in time and the wound opened – it just started pouring out. I'm so sorry. I couldn't make it go back in, and by the time I realized that, he'd lost a lot. It's stopped bleeding, but he's going to be weak for at least a few days, if not longer."

"It wasn't your fault, Lady Katara," he said softly. "But I think that it is time we explained to the others what we have been trying to accomplish. We may be in for some very unpleasant reactions," he said, nodding at Aang in particular. Katara rose to her feet.

"He's stabilized for now," she said to everyone. "General Iroh and I need to speak to everyone, but I think it's best if we do so elsewhere." No one argued. They filed out of Zuko's room, everyone taking a last look at his pale, drawn features as they did so, clearly wondering what was going on.

In the galley, Katara was grateful when Iroh stood and addressed them. "When the Lady Katara explained the desperate state of my nephew's health, I recalled a story that I might have done better to have forgotten. I did not tell her the origin of the tale, nor did I explain the circumstances by which I came to know of it. As far as we, in the Fire Nation, knew, it could have been a secret Waterbending practice only used in desperate situations, one of which she was already aware." He paused here and sighed.

"It is possible that it is a practice common among Waterbenders of a certain ilk, though thankfully, she is not of that stamp," here he fixed her with a smile. "Unfortunately, to tell this story, I must bring up something that I fear will resurrect memories that will cause pain. I apologize. You may be aware that it was common practice for the Fire Nation to raid the Southern Water Tribe and imprison any Waterbender found on those shores. I can only offer my apologies for this, as I know it has caused personal pain to those I consider friend," he said, looking at Katara and her family. She blinked back tears.

"One prisoner escaped, on the night of a full moon, using a technique never heard or seen before, or so the story goes. In questioning the guards, who released her from her prison, they claimed that a power unlike any they had ever felt before had compelled them to move against their will to her cage and unlock it," he continued. Katara pieced it together in her mind and gasped.

"The Lady Katara understands, though it took our experts much longer, of course," he said sadly. "The prisoner had used the guards' own blood as her weapon and bent it to her will. It was the only thing that made sense. In desperation, I asked the Lady Katara to employ the same art, the bending of Prince Zuko's blood, to save his life."

Katara spoke up. "It wasn't easy, but once I started understanding the mechanics of it, his blood flowed in much the same paths as his energy, and it wasn't too much different from normal healing, though it was more tiring," she admitted. She noticed Aang's horror, and refused to look at anyone else, afraid to see the same look on their faces. "When Zuko realized what I was doing today, he pulled away in shock, not realizing that by doing so, while I still had his blood in my hands, he was pulling his body away from it, and opening up his wound. I – didn't know it was possible, either," she admitted shamefully.

"You used an unethical method of healing, one you'd never even heard of before?" Aang asked, and she heard the accusation in his voice. "You almost killed him!"

"Avatar Aang, she did not," Iroh said, before Katara could think of how to defend herself. "If there is any fault to place, please lay it at my feet, and not hers. This was my meddling, and mine alone."

"I think Katara's old enough to take responsibility for her own actions," Hakoda put in mildly. "And I have to admit, that if it weren't for this unconventional method of healing, I'm not sure the boy would still be with us. I wasn't sure how she was doing it, keeping him alive when by all rights he should have died, but I figured it was that spirit oasis water Sokka said she had. Now I'm not so sure. However, once he was awake, and out of danger, clearly the need for unconventional methods of healing were past."

Katara hung her head, pleased that her father was not condemning her, but recognizing the truth in his words. "Dad's right," she said. "I shouldn't have tried it after he woke up."

"You shouldn't have done it at all," Aang said, storming out of the room, his eyes dangerously dark.

"I'll go after him," Sokka said with a sigh. "It's my turn."

"No," Toph said, putting out her arm, "I've got this." She stomped after him, and her call of, "Twinkletoes!" could be heard through the door she slammed behind her.

It opened a moment later. "General Iroh, Chief Hakoda – we've got company," a young man said from behind his white faceplate. Everyone scattered, their locations predetermined. This eventuality had been planned for, at least. Katara breathed and headed towards Zuko's room, preparing guard him with her Waterbending. It was all she could do, now.

* * *

**A/N: OMG. That's over. The rest is coming! I swear. This took SO MUCH out of me. I hope you like it!**


	5. Ch 5 Return to the Serpent's Pass

**Chapter 5 – Return to the Serpent's Pass**

"Just act natural," Sokka hissed, putting the white faceplate into the helmet.

"The last time you said that, didn't Katara end up rescuing Haru from prison?" Aang whispered back at him. He didn't have to see Sokka's face to know that this was not a time for jokes. He didn't know who they thought they would fool anyway. He had grown, sure, but no one would believe that he was a soldier, not even in the uniform of one. He was just too short.

"The Lady Katara rescues prisoners?" Iroh asked from behind his bars. Toph sat next to him on the ground, her ear pressed up against the metal hull of the ship. "Why does this not surprise me?"

"Quiet, all of you!" she muttered. "I'm trying to listen, here!"

"I'm heading up to keep an eye on things," Sokka said. "I'll give you the signal if there's trouble." Aang gulped and nodded. Several times in the journey they had been boarded by other Fire Nation officers, but no one had seen through their ruse. Iroh was very good at forging official Fire Nation documents, and their mission looked, to the untrained eye, to be very important.

Aang took up his pose, giving himself every inch of his newly-gained height, as befitted a guard, and stood at attention. He would know soon if it was all for nothing.

Sokka made his steps quick, sure and deliberate. _Walk with sense of purpose._ It had been drilled into his head by Jee – funny how the man's title had fallen away in the weeks they'd known him. He was no longer an enemy, just another man under his father's command, despite his gold eyes and ties to the Fire Nation.

He took a deep breath when he saw the ship that had come alongside them, not from the opposite direction, as so many others had in the past few weeks, but from behind. It was not of the same design as their ill-begotten flagship; it seemed to be more elaborate. Sokka suddenly had a very bad feeling.

He buried it, and followed his routine, walking up to his father and Jee. "The prisoners are secure, sir" he said, making his voice deeper. Jee nodded, not sparing him a glance. Something was definitely wrong.

"Transporting prisoners to the Fire Nation?" the officer from the other ship asked. "The Princess was not aware of any orders for prisoner transports."

"Perhaps she did not transmit the report to you, sir," Jee said calmly. "No disrespect, sir, but our orders came directly from the Firelord himself, and are highly classified. It's possible that she's under command not to share them."

_It's a good bluff,_ Sokka thought. He could see the other man thinking it over, weighing the possibility that Azula might not have shared something that classified with him. He sighed.

"I'll be blunt," he finally said. "She's gotten quite a few black ribbon hawks since we left Ba Sing Se, and she hasn't seen fit to share the contents of any of them with me. The only orders we have are to stop any ships we pass and look at their orders, search them for spies, and report to her personally. On her way home, she is, and it doesn't seem like she's pleased to be called home right as she conquered the Great Ba Sing Se, either, if you'll pardon me for saying it." He shook his head. Sokka released a breath he didn't realize he was holding, realizing the man was already holding their forged documents.

"I understand completely, Captain," Jee said. "We're all servants of the Firelord and the Princess. We'll be happy to let your search our ship. As you can see, we're carrying nothing but supplies for the journey and our prisoners."

"Your prisoner is precisely the spy the Princess has us searching for," the captain admitted. "If he's already in custody, and the Firelord has given you orders to return him to the Fire Nation, then I see no reason to search your ship. Just let me see where you have him incarcerated, so that I can attest to the Princess that I saw him in chains, and I'm sure she will be satisfied."

_I don't envy this guy when he tells Azula that he didn't let her see it for herself – he obviously doesn't know her very well,_ Sokka thought, his eyes wide under his mask. As soon as Azula's ship left, they were going on high alert, because he knew that as soon as she heard they had Iroh on board, she would have them turn around and want to see for herself. They'd need to make new plans immediately, or they were all doomed.

As Jee escorted the Captain to the prison cell, Sokka let his boot tap impatiently upon the deck in a specific pattern, as though to a song in his head, ducking his head as though ashamed when one of the men from the other ship who had been left upon the deck glared at him. He addressed his father in a servile manner.

"Corporal Kuzon, sir," he said, using the name Aang had suggested his father go by when around Fire Nation soldiers. "We're running a bit low on rice and meat, sir. We might suggest to the commander that we make port before hitting open water to restock, begging your pardon."

"Understood, boy." His father nodded, showing he did, indeed, understand. Sokka returned to his designated spot as the moon began to rise. He looked up and saw that it was full; a pang of pure longing swept over him, even in the midst of the peril he knew them to be in. _Yue_. She was always with him. He could feel her watching over him, and somehow, he knew they would be okay. A full moon was a good omen for him. Yue wouldn't let harm come to him. And this, the first full moon since he'd really allowed himself to think about what it meant that Azula had come to Ba Sing Se in Kyoshi Warrior uniform – he felt another presence watching over him as well, and knew that both of them would look out for him. It was comforting, but saddening, at the same time.

Footsteps pulled him from his melancholy. The captain and Jee were returning. "Unbelievable," the captain was saying. "The Dragon of the West, on his way to execution, and offering me tea from his prison cell. If it weren't treason to say aloud…" he trailed off, realizing they'd come on deck, but Jee merely nodded his agreement.

"I heard Princess Azula killed Prince Zuko in Ba Sing Se," Jee ventured to the captain. Apparently the two were now fast friends. "Of course, it could only be a rumor..." he let the sentence hang.

"No, it's a fact," the captain said, and there was a tone in his voice that was something akin to disgust. "Lightning to the chest, the way she announced it. She's got some of those Dai Li with her, and they tell it a bit differently, but you won't hear me repeating Earth Kingdom rumors."

Sokka's eyes behind his mask widened. Azula was taking Earthbenders – and not just any Earthbenders, but Dai Li agents – back to the Fire Nation with her! He barely heard what the captain was saying, but he registered enough of it to realize that the man was telling Jee what they already knew: the Dai Li were whispering that Zuko had taken the lightning Azula had meant for Aang, and that the Avatar's Waterbender had been trying to heal him, even though he had been clearly dying and far beyond healing when she'd taken him from the caves.

"Apparently, she heard that there's some kind of invasion happening this summer and she doesn't want to be unprepared, but that's just ship's gossip," the captain said with a hearty laugh as he slapped Jee on the back. Sokka froze. Luckily, his father chose that moment to interrupt.

"Sir, the boy says we're running low on supplies," he said to Jee. "If we're going to make it to the Fire Nation, we should make port soon."

"Gaoling isn't too far from here," the Captain said with a nod a Jee. "Your men are well-trained, sir, if they're letting you know these things. I swear we'd be out to see and out of food before mine thought to tell me something. Corporal, if you and the boy ever want to serve aboard the Princess' flagship, put in for a transfer in the capitol. I'll personally approve it."

"Now, now, Captain," Jee said teasingly. "Trying to steal my men isn't honorable at all. It took me years to train the boy properly. Gaoling sounds like an excellent place to put in for supplies, thank you for the recommendation. I think we've kept you long enough. Give our regards to the Princess. All hail Firelord Ozai!" Jee offered the traditional Fire Nation bow. The others followed suit.

Azula's captain and his men left the ship and retreated to their own, which quickly gained speed, taking it further away from them. As soon as he was sure it was out of range, Sokka ducked below decks and raced to the small room where he knew Katara was waiting, trusting that his father would relieve the others.

He gave the brief knocking rhythm to let his sister know it was him and then opened the door, noting in satisfaction that she had her water ready for battle all the same. When she saw that it was him, she quickly corked it and looked at him expectantly. "Up on deck, little sis, I need you and Aang to whip up a nice, light fog cover. Nothing too obvious, but thick enough that we can veer off into port unseen."

"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice high and tense.

"That was Azula's ship," he said. "And as soon as she realizes that her captain was stupid enough to sail away without letting her see her uncle in chains for herself, I'm pretty sure she's going to come back for him."

Katara's eyes widened at that, but she followed him up on deck without a word. Aang joined them almost immediately and the two set to work at building up a reasonable cover of fog that would hide their ship in the growing dusk as they turned towards the shore for a small port that was immediately available. Sokka joined his father, Jee and Iroh as they tried to assess a new plan.

"The invasion plan is ruined," he said simply, sitting down in Iroh's quarters. "The biggest advantage to our plan was the element of surprise. If Azula knows we're coming, that's not an option anymore."

"It never was," Iroh said calmly. "In your perusal of Fire Nation history, did you not discover why the Day of Black Sun is considered the Darkest Day in Fire Nation history?"

"No, we never could find that out," Sokka admitted, his curiosity piqued.

"Because on that day, over a thousand years ago, our way of life was destroyed by an Avatar whose spirit had become corrupted. Our spiritual leaders, the Fire Sages, were destroyed, save for one, who was able to use techniques other than bending to withstand this Avatar long enough for the Eclipse to pass. When the eclipse had passed, he declared himself, as the only remaining Fire Sage, the Firelord, the leader of our Nation. He said that Agni had blessed him with the strength to survive his fight with the Avatar, and that he and any of his line would be blessed with the divine right to rule for eternity. No one dared to argue with him, for that day, he married the Avatar that had tried to kill him."

Sokka knew his jaw was on the floor.

"The history of the Fire Nation is rife with such tales, Master Sokka," Iroh said, taking in his expression. "But that is neither here nor there. What is apparent is that we need an alternative plan. An invasion during the eclipse, while an admirable idea, would not have worked. My brother is far too clever for a surprise attack to have been an option. No, there is only one thing we can do now," he said softly, as though to himself. Sokka was afraid he already knew what the General was going to say.

* * *

"You're forgiven, Captain," Azula said coldly. She turned to the man's first in command. "You're the Captain now."

"Y-yes, Princess," he stammered, looking at his boots. The smell of burning flesh was acrid in his nose.

"See that the body is disposed of, Captain," she added, as though she was discussing the removal of her dinner dishes with the steward. He nodded. "And make sure that you set a course to follow that ship. I know of no such orders from my father, and if his royal, tea-loving kookiness was truly on his way to be executed, I'm sure that I would be aware of it. Dismissed."

The newly-appointed Captain nodded and dragged the body of his former superior out the door behind him. When the door closed behind him, Ty Lee giggled.

"Did you see his face?" she said. "I thought he was going to wet himself right there!"

Mai was silent, but Azula didn't take it personally. It was the girl's nature, even more so now, and Azula knew the reason why. It might surprise others, but she was not upset with Mai.

"It was the idiot Captain's fault for not telling me that Iroh was on the ship in the first place," Azula continued. "As though my father wouldn't have let me know that he'd been captured."

_Are you so certain of that?_ The voice of her mother whispered in her mind. _You killed your brother, after all. You let the Avatar escape. You're just just like __**Zuko**_.

"Get out, both of you!" Azula screamed. Ty Lee cast a worried glance at Azula before doing as she was told. Mai ambled out slowly without a backward glance. As the door closed behind them, Ty Lee looked over at Mai.

"I'm really starting to worry about her," she said softly, hoping that Azula didn't hear her. They walked down the hall.

"Whatever," Mai said, her tone flat.

The conversation carried through the thin door and Azula seethed. She could feel the ship changing its course, but she knew that by the time they reached her traitor uncle's ship, it would be too late. He and the Avatar would already have escaped, and all she would be left with was a hulk bereft of any glory or honor.

_Just like Zuko._

She jumped out of her chair and kicked a stream of fire at the door, watching in satisfaction as it heated. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that her hair had fallen from its usual neat topknot and was slipping around her face. She resisted the urge to scream or to drop to the floor like a child. Instead she walked with deliberate calmness back to her chair and sat down.

A splash outside the porthole told her that the former captain had been tossed overboard, and she smiled.

_Not so much like Zuko, after all, Mother._

* * *

Ty Lee watched as Mai brushed her hair out of its traditional style and pulled it into a low tail at the nape of her neck. She dressed herself for bed and climbed under the covers in their shared quarters and within moments was asleep. Ty Lee just stared, wondering what had happened to her. Zuko's death had hit the other girl hard, she knew, but even that couldn't possibly explain this. There were no complaints about acrobatics in the small quarters they shared. No comments on her incessant giggling. In fact, if she wasn't absolutely positive that it was Mai in the room with her, she would almost say that the girl sleeping so peacefully in the bed was someone else entirely.

Ty Lee sighed. She worried about Mai. She worried about Azula, too. In the weeks since Ba Sing Se had fallen, it was clear that killing her brother had broken something inside the other girl – something Ty Lee wasn't sure could be fixed. When her father had allowed her to 'run away' to join the circus all those years ago, it hadn't been to escape her family, it was a way to get her away from Azula. The ringmaster and her father had been cronies in their youth, and occasionally met for a game of Pai Sho with old friends. It had been easy for Ty Lee to meet with him and join up. She'd loved the freedom, but she'd kept her father's warnings close at hand.

"_If she ever finds you, find an old man near a Pai Sho table, like any of the men you've seen me play with, and play the way I've taught you. He will help you."_

She hadn't, of course. Too many lives would have been at risk if she'd saved herself. Instead, she'd warned Bai Ben about the fall of the Earth Kingdom and risked what might have been the one chance she had to ever get free of Azula herself. She hoped her father would understand. She'd long suspected that her father wasn't wholly in support of Ozai, and she understood why – her family might have wealth, but it was not wealth gained in the profits of war, like Mai's family had. She sighed, and looked at her friend again. She needed to sleep. It was getting easier to pretend in front of Azula, and she wasn't sure if that was because the act was no longer needed because Azula no longer believed it, or because Azula no longer saw things as clearly as she once did, but either way, it was more exhausting this way, and she didn't know why. She should be back home, preparing for the matchmaker and meeting her future husband, giggling with her sisters over gowns and jewels, not on a ship, at war, preparing to fight the Avatar, the Dragon of the West, and two of the most powerful teenage Master benders she'd ever seen.

* * *

They were moving under cover of darkness, flying high in a bank of clouds. Katara hadn't liked the plan, but there was no avoiding it; her father and Sokka had agreed to it and she had been outvoted. Aang was sitting alone on Appa's head, ignoring all of them.

"Where are we?" Toph asked tiredly.

"By my calculations," Sokka said, his voice tight as he looked up at the moon, "we should be close to the Serpent's Pass."

No one spoke. There was no need to. The implications were clear. It was where he had last seen Suki. Suki, who had traveled from her home village of Kyoshi because he had inspired her to do so. Suki, who had come from the safety of Full Moon Bay to make sure he made it to Ba Sing Se safely. Suki, whose uniform had come to Ba Sing Se without her – on Azula. _The thing speaks for itself_, her father used to tell her, and Katara knew that Sokka was remembering those words as well. She reached out and put her hand on her brother's clenched fist.

He looked down, startled, and opened his hand, turned his palm up, and clasped her hand in his for a moment. There was strength in his hand, and she wondered when he had gone from her goofy brother to this reliable person by her side. She smiled at him, just a brief smile to let him know how much he meant to her, and fought back tears. He'd lost so much already; first Yue, and now Suki.

There was a stirring from the back of the saddle, and Katara broke free from her brother and turned to her patient.

Zuko opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Where are we?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Somewhere above the Serpent's Pass," she said. "On our way to the Fire Nation."

He nodded, not quite realizing what this meant, obviously, but willing to take her words at face value for the moment. She saw him look around at everyone, registering each face in turn, and she dreaded the next words even before he spoke them.

"Where is my uncle?"

* * *

**A/N: There has been a lot of confusion over Ty Lee's "White Lotus Connections", so I hope that cleared it up a bit. I had always intended it to be a little ambiguous at first, but I hope that it is now clear that it was her father, and not Ty Lee, who is a member of the White Lotus. For those who have state in reviews that there was never a mention of her family being associated with the White Lotus in canon, I offer this rebuttal: until the finale, the only members that we were given hints of association were (obviously) Iroh and Piandao. Pakku was not really hinted at, nor was Jeong Jeong (though he wasn't really a surprise). **


End file.
